Posts Tagged ‘self’

I remember when I first found favor in lifting weights. I was 16 and had a set of 20s I found laying around the house. I would hold up in my room and do as many curls of those 20lb weights that I could. Eventually this would reach 100 reps and I would have the most freakishly disproportionate arms in the high school. One girl even told me my arms looked photo shopped. (Long before Emma Stone’s character said that to Ryan Gosling’s character in Crazy Stupid Love) I would do push ups, sit ups, chest flys on my bed, and whatever else my uneducated little mind could think of to gain muscle. I really had no idea what I was doing at the time.

However, soon enough I convinced my dad to buy a family gym membership for us all and began working out on the cable and pulley machines. Even with being poorly educated on the subject and using cable machines, I began to put on a very small amount of muscle and could notice a pump after going to the gym, but I still had a form of identification with the Scrawny Mindset!

Each time, once staring at myself in the mirror pondering what others will think of me if I lost my “scrawny boy personality” and another on my dorm room futon laying there thinking I’ve become the biggest douche bag on the planet.

How to overcome what you are for what you want to be.

Total and absolute transformation. You don’t get voted most transformed by staying the same because some one wrote “Never change” on the back of a senior pic they gave to you in high school.

First things first and what we are here for. If you weren’t lifting to some degree already, start now and funnel every last ounce of food you can fit into your stomach. If you’re not gaining weight, you’re not eating enough.

Eat healthy. Vegetables seem to be the most ignored food group as well as probably the most important. Nobody likes eating the food our normal food eats, but to make it easier we can juice them for an nutrient dense drink.

Keep an eye on your wardrobe. As you start to put on muscle you’re old clothes will start to fit better, but you definitely want to upgrade beyond your old style. The old baggy pair of jeans will not cut it.

V-necks and well fitting jeans are my personal favorite.

Find a real barber in your area and build a relation with them. There are too many men going to women’s salons for hair cuts. These women know how to hair “dress” not how to create the perfect crew cut or “high and tight”.

Brain wash yourself with a type of music that motivates and is conducive to your new self. I gravitated towards Jay Z’s hustler mindset and Glitch Mob for it’s instrumentals when I don’t want lyrics interfering with my concentration.

Become a Renaissance Man to learn everything you can about anything you can. Develop personal interests that you haven’t had before and invest in them accordingly. You will be more versed for conversations more exciting than the scoreboard of last nights game.

With all that you add into your life, you may cut out some of your old hobbies. Good. More likely than not you will not miss theses hobbies as your life begins to change and you develop constructive hobbies you enjoy more.

In becoming the best versions of ourselves, one of the things I’ve struggled with in the past year or so is being completely transparent with everyone. Growing up the youngest of six and taking shit from all sides I learned to tell everyone what they wanted to hear. If Kelly comes wines to me about Michelle then hell yea Michelle’s a bitch and vice-versa. Another case would be, if I thought someone had a lot of knowledge to offer me I would just sit and absorb offering very little back to that person.

Reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance as well as realizing the most common prison sentence is the one we set for ourselves. If we cannot learn how to express ourselves to fullest capacity we are doing the world a disservice as well as ourselves. Since I’ve started being more transparent and expressing myself with no concern for what others thought, I’ve noticed more people have come to me with interest in what I’m doing with my life. If someone asks me how I’m doing or what I’m up to, I’ll them exactly that. I’m doing well, I’ll say. Graduation with a four-year degree and making plans to do what I actually want to do with my life has got people genuinely interested I think. To my surprise one of my “King” authorities if you will, told me he’s the one who sits and absorbs information from me now. Although I had gotten him into Ron Paul in 2010 (lolz) and sparked some readings for him and keep him going in the gym I still consider him the King type in our rag tag group, but I digress.

I will have a BA in computer science from a Big 10 university, but my real goal is become a personal trainer, jump start this blog and work for myself as soon as possible. The people I talk to on a regular basis who were serious about getting into shape have all come to me with diet and exercise questions, like I’m an authority of some kind. Maybe I am to an extent, but not a professional. Because of this I’ve decided to start writing a fitness e-book on my few days off here during the week. That being said, expect this blog to feature more health and fitness related posts, or have a sibling site solely for that.

Taking off the mask is easier said then done. Truth is, the majority of the people you surround yourself suck. Your teachers suck, the other students suck, your parents suck, your friends suck the girl at the check out counter…sucks. Yup, the majority them suck. I never ask anyone for advice that I know for a fact hasn’t done what I’m trying to do. If your even smaller than I am or weaker than I am, don’t tell me how to lift. If your body looks like shit, don’t tell me how to eat either. Realizing not that you’re better than everyone, but you’re actively working on more things than they are makes you not give a flying fuck. Stagnation is death and I’m not about to care about a persons opinion who commits spiritual suicide at 25 when they think they’ve “made it” with there first job after college.

Not giving a fuck, in the best way possible, allows a person to live freely among the masses. I can walk down the street with a smile making eye contact with every passerby and love it. I can talk about my opinions with anyone and those who agree can relate. Those who don’t can add another perspective to my experience if they take it well and if they don’t take it well they can fuck right off now can’t they.

Another way to help you in ‘taking the mask off’ is understanding most people will appreciate you being open or transparent with them and will return the gesture. The more you give to people the more you will receive. The world is your mirror, guys.